The department is home to a wide range of analytical facilities and equipment.
Centre for Trace Element Analysis (CTEA)
CTEA, housed within the Science 2 Building just across the Water of Leith from the Geology Department, specialises in the analysis of trace elements and their isotopes for wide-ranging applications.
Instrumentation consists of:
- a multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) equipped with high-resolution capabilities for high-precision isotopic analysis
- a quadrupole ICP-MS, primarily for elemental composition analysis
- two supporting laser ablation systems for use on either machine.
A 'Class 10' (ISO 4) ultra-clean laboratory supports sample preparation activities.
Otago Repository for Core Analysis (ORCA)
ORCA is an analytical core repository housing non-destructive core scanning instrumentation, coring equipment and laboratory facilities with refrigerated core storage. It is capable of processing sediment, soft rock and hard rock cores, and is housed in a warehouse-based facility near the department.
Facilities include:
- Geotek multisensor core logger (MSCL-S), BoxScan XL and core splitter
- Cox Analytical Systems Itrax XRF Core Scanner
- Monitored refrigerated containers for core storage
- Field deployable laboratory/office and refrigerated containers
- Core description and sampling laboratory with drying oven, analytical balance, microscopes and Labconco freeze dryers
- MPI transitional facility that allows direct importation of overseas and offshore cores
- Coring devices including a Uwitec coring platform and corer, modified Kullenberg piston corer and Ocean Instruments MC-400 multicorer and other systems for collecting sediment cores in lakes and fjords.
Additional Analytical Geochemistry Facilities
Housed within the Geology Building are a range of additional geochemical laboratories.
- Organic geochemistry laboratory containing:
- a Dionex accelerated solvent extractor (ASE)
- Agilent instruments including a gas chromatograph with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID)
- mass spectrometer (GC-MS)
- high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC-MS).
*Simadzu UV-1800 UV/Vis spectrophotometer with sipper
- Sartorius microbalance
- Geochemical prep labs with fume hoods, hot water baths, hot plates and shaker tables
- Preparation facilities for radio-carbon analyses
- Wet and environmental geochemistry workspaces and clean room facilities
Located across campus in the Lindo-Ferguson Building and associated with Health Sciences is our Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) facility:
- Geology has a state of the art FEGSEM with EBSD and high speed EDX. The facility is one of only five in the world with cryo-EBSD capabilities for mapping microstructures of synthetic and natural ice samples.
- Microscopy Otago has micro-CT, confocal microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (including CryoTEM) and two additional scanning electron microscopes.
Physical Geology Laboratories
Our basement physical geology laboratories house a suite of labs for rock preparation and thin section manufacture for mineralogy, petrology, structural geology and sedimentology:
- Our lapidary facility enables polishing of most sample types.
- Well-equipped wet and dry laboratories are set up for grain-size sieving analyses.
We also have:
- Optical microscopy capability.
- Cathodoluminescence microscopy capability.
- Handheld XRF (X-ray fluorescence) equipment.
- Excellent computing facilities and support with licences for proprietary analysis software.
More information about our mineralogy and petrology facilities
The Ice Laboratory
The department has a set of facilities that enable analysis of the physical properties of ice samples and field equipment geared towards ice science. The facilities include:
- An ice sample preparation suite housed in a freezer container (-10°C to -25°C), comprising a high-quality bandsaw, planer thicknesser for making thin sections, milling machine with sub-coring cutters and a lathe
- Off-site ice core storage with a local logistics company
- Optical imaging including an automated polarized light imager and a fabric analyser
- Cryogenic electron backscatter diffraction (see Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) facility)
- Ultrasonic p-wave and s-wave velocity measurements
- Dead-weight deformation rigs for laboratory ice deformation experiments
- Controlled temperature systems for long term static experiments (e.g. ice grain growth)
- Hot water drilling rigs for sub-glacial access
- Ice coring systems
- Low cost GNSS stations (shared with surveying) for monitoring ice motion
Volcanology
We have a range of facilities that support our many active volcanology research projects.
- Lab-scale volcanic fissure through which we intrude hot polyethylene glycol (PEG) wax, a common magma or lava analogue.
- Rapid Sediment Analysis software capable of analysing sediment in the grainsize range – 2 phi to 4 phi at quarter-phi resolution, utilising Geology or Geography Department settling tubes.
More information about our volcanology facilities
Geophysics and Earthquake Science
We have geophysics equipment suitable for on land and offshore geophysical surveys. We also have a range of computing and software for processing and interpretation of geophysical data sets in our well-equipped data analysis laboratory:
- 3 x 24-channel Geode seismometers (including one that can be configured for marine data acquisition
- A trailer-mounted weight-drop source
- Broadband seismometers
- Various configurations of 1- and 3-component geophones
- gravity meters (Lacoste and Romberg G-meter and Worden)
- Magnetometer (GEM GSM-19)
More information about our geophysics facilities
Marine Geology
We have access to a range of facilities for marine geology, including:
- The RV Polaris II, a University of Otago research vessel operated by our sister Department of Marine Science, provides a platform for coastal and open water research and is equipped with seismic imaging tools, coring and dredging equipment.
- Sediment processing and analysis
- Cold rooms (to -30C) are housed in geography and physics
More information about our paleoclimate and marine geology facilities
Otago Paleomagnetic Research Facility
The Otago Paleomagnetic Research facility includes:
- cryogenic (or superconducting) rock magnetometer—one of the most sensitive of its kind in the world
- in-line AF demagnetisation, magnetic susceptibility and anhysteretic remanent magnetism capabilities
- fluxgate magnetometer, an ASC Thermal demagnetiser, and ASC impulse magnetiser, a Bartington single sample susceptibility bridge, a LakeShore Cryotronics Micromag Vibrating Sample Magnetometer, and an AGICO MFK1-A Kappabridge with 3-D rotator
Visit the Otago Paleomagnetic Research facility webpage
Paleontology
Our paleontology facilities, adjacent to the department’s Geology Museum, support a wide range of paleontological research and include the following facilities:
- Macro and micro fossil preparation labs including dust extraction; airscribes, microjack, pneumatic chisels and drills small and large; air abrasive unit; dry cutoff grinder; rock saw and lap; long-focus binocular scopes.
- Field equipment includuing chain saw with rock-cutting chain, masonry saw; petrol-powered rotary percussion drill; 12 hp portable compressor, chipping hammers, pneumatic drills.
Paleontology facilities in the Department of Geology
General facilities and equipment
The Department of Geology either houses or has access to the following facilities:
- An extensive rock catalogue that houses specimens collected by staff and students since the late 19th century.
- A Geological Museum housing extensive reference collections of fossils, minerals, and rocks.
- Extensive fieldwork equipment, including: Trimble RTK GNSS (R8s) navigation equipment, camping and field gear for small and large research or teaching parties, DJI Mavic 3 Pro quadcopter, iPad Mini field mapping tablet (using Fieldmove software).
- Several departmental vehicles and trailers.
- A micro-imaging lab and computer lab with an extensive range of computers for student and staff use.
- GIS data and software including ArcGIS.
- Several on campus mechanical and electrical / electronic workshops have facilities and expertise to support design and build of custom equipment.
- The University library is well supported, particularly in provision of electronic journals and books.